Footsteps for a Bride-to-Be

September 3rd, 2011

10:45am - Our Love Nest

"Home!" Michael dropped the luggage on the side and stretched. He let out one big yawn and turned to me as I lugged my body through the door. Our week was over, Maui was beautiful as always and our week off was actually really busy. I had a three page checklist that Lindsay gave us to do in Maui, and all of it were done. I let out a yawn and asked, "Should we nap before we head to your Mom's place?"
His arm was wrapped around me and he pulled me close. "I need that nap," He whispered while he pressed his lips against my forehead. "Let's go, babe," He whispered as he used his foot to push the front door shut.
"Aren't you cuddly," I laughed as he led me to the bedroom, but as we got closer, there was a knock at our door. I saw Michael's face change to a rather annoyed expression because he knew that whoever it was, it was going to disturb whatever he had planned.
"You're getting that, right?" I teased as I slipped out of his grasp and went to get the luggage, dragging them across the wooden floor and to the bedroom while Michael wandered lazily through the door. He opened it right after the second knock. I peeked to see who it was.
"Hey Lindsay," Michael greeted our wedding planner. "Come on in," He added, widening the door for her to make her way in. "What brings you to our end of town?"
"Hello Michael, Roxanne," Lindsay replied as she looked at my fiancé first and then me as I walked out of the room to see what she needed. The woman held her bag up, reaching into it to pull out a folder. It had our names labelled at the front. "So, I've ticked off those three pages worth of checklist, got in contact with the venue and everything, and they were saying that you two dealt with everything with a lot of ease."
"Oh, the people there helped a heck of a lot," I pointed out. "If it weren't for them, Michael and I probably wouldn't know what the heck to do."
"Definitely," I heard the Olympian add to my statement as he led the way to the living room. Lindsay followed while I shortcut to the kitchen to get a glass of water for our guest. I didn't hear much of their conversation because I took out my phone and turned it on for the first time since arrival, since we took the cab home instead of hassling Derek to pick us up. The moment the phone loaded, about ten messages arrived, three missed calls and it was beeping to tell me that it was on a low battery. I skimmed through the messages, four of them were from Debbie, who shared pictures of her and Baby Phelps out at the park; Hilary asked when we were arriving; two were from Lia, she spammed me with messages that she was excited for our week of getting the wedding party's clothing sorted; Jessica sent me a message about her flying in with Tiffany tomorrow; last two messages were from my Mom and Dad, they both asked me about when they would be able to see their Grandson again. All three of the missed calls were from - "Fulton?"

Yes. Fulton Jr., to be more specific.
I wonder what he wanted.

I tucked my phone back into my pocket while I walked into the living room where Michael and Lindsay were situated and had a discussion about the Groom's mini tasks. When I took a seat next to my fiancé and placed the glass of water in front of our Wedding Planner, the topic changed to our scheduled fitting for our clothing for the day, even though it's on the same day, it was on separate locations so that we wouldn't see what we were wearing to our special day.
"Are you two ready?" Lindsay questioned out of the blue.
I didn't answer so quickly, but Michael did. He grasped a hold of my hand and gave it a light tap. "I'm only as ready as Anne," He smiled.
I simply nodded without a word coming out of me, which must've been picked up by Michael, because he gripped on my hand tighter and fell quiet. Lindsay gave a quick nod and scribbled some words on the paper laid on top of the table, it had both our names and the date of our meeting with the tailor.
"What other things do we need dealing with?" I unsilenced the air.
Lindsay opened her folder, her fingers flicked through a lot of pieces of paper before she pulled out two of them. She placed the first one down and said, "You two need to figure out your catering menu and the cake. So, just call these people and tell them when you can go in to do some tasting for your wedding day menu. They'll forward your menu and the cake type to your venue, so don't worry."
The other paper was put down.
"These are the official roles you told me, from the Wedding Party to what your Parents would be doing, the Ushers and the Drivers, and so forth." The Wedding Planner closed her folder, tucked it back into her bag as she took a big gulp of the water before she stood up. "I have another appointment to head off to. The two of you know how to get to me, so if you need anything, call me," She smiled, pulling the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "I can't wait for this wedding. Thank you for having me to your lovely home," She added as Michael and I stood up from our chairs. She took my hand and shook it, same with Michael, before she and my fiancé wandered off to the door. The moment they left, I took out my phone and sent a text message to Fulton Jr., asking him what he needed to have called me that amount of times.

I haven't heard from him in a while, why the sudden contact?
It was suspicious...

1:20pm - Debbie Phelps' Home

After that meeting with Lindsay, Michael was called out to go meet Bob for a discussion for his upcoming training sessions, so I took the time while he was away to unpack and do some cleaning. Though I got impatient and decided not to wait for him. I left and went to Debbie's house without him. The closer I got, the more excited I got to going to see Baby Phelps. I finally knew what my Mom meant when she said that she felt empty whenever all three of her children were away from her, and she dealt with three children, and I only had one little guy.

Remind me that when I go visit my Mom, I should really give her a hug.

"Oh, lovely hug from my soon to be Daughter-in-Law," Debbie smiled so brightly as soon as I entered the house and gave her a hug. She was like my Mom, had three children and they no longer live with her anymore. "Mitchell just woke up, Whitney is with him right now. Taylor and Connor are just having some sandwiches, so you should come join us," She said with a lot of enthusiasm, she wrapped her arm around me and gave my shoulder a little shake as she led me through the halls and into the kitchen, where her Grandchildren from Whitney sat by the dining table and enjoying their Grandma-made sandwiches.
"Hi Aunty Anne," Taylor cheered so loudly, giving her little Brother a fright and made him leap on his chair.
"Hey Taylor," I replied with a smile. "And little Connor," I added as I was released by Debbie and I wandered over towards the two, taking a seat opposite them and asked, "Have you seen Uncle MP's son?"
The young girl and boy exchanged looks and talked through their gaze, sharing a nod by the end of their telepathic communication and they both looked at me. Connor managed to utter words out of his full mouth, I didn't understand them and looked at his Sister for guidance. She giggled and answered, "Connor said he saw him with Mommy."
"Here he is!"
I looked up and met eyes with my little guy. I saw his lips curved and he cooed out to me, he even got a bit rowdy in the arms of Whitney.
"Gee, mini MP is getting active seeing his Mommy," the eldest Phelps commented as she walked towards the table, sitting herself down next to me and placed Baby Phelps on her lap. "Look mini MP, look whose here to pick you up and take you home to go see Daddy!" She continued on.
"I missed you, Mitchie," I grinned. "You've been good to Grandma, right?
"Of course!" Debbie called from behind the kitchen counter. She was making more sandwiches, enough for everyone in her house. "My Grandkids are adorable, Mitchell was so well behaved. Hilary and I didn't even break a sweat throughout his stay. Taylor and Connor joined him two days ago, the three are all my darling angels!" Michael's Mom was really dishing out the compliment train, and it was very nice to hear that my son wasn't causing trouble. I really did hope.

If only Michael could've heard everything Debbie said, and it wasn't just about her Grandchildren, it led on to talking about her own children, even embarrassing Whitney in the process. When I get old, would I be like that too?

Wait...

How many more children am I planning to have?



September 5th, 2011

3:45pm - Betsy Robinson's Bridal Collection

Tiffany, Jessica and Lia all met me at the bridal store, I arrived fifteen minutes late because Michael and I had a small debate about where Baby Phelps would go, and because Michael forgot that he would take our little guy. I got annoyed at him and instantly decided to take Baby Phelps, and that delayed me because I had to run about and pack his things.
I arrived with a pant, my hand loosely clinging onto the light blue baby bag that carried all Baby Phelps's things, and on the other hand, my little guy was fiddling about with my hair. The women of my wedding party saw me with a chuckle, Lia even commented that I looked like I was in a stressed out mode, and that I shouldn't be considering that there were some amazing dresses I should be acknowledging. Jessica took Baby Phelps from my grasp, giving him a big kiss on the cheek and said, "Oh cutie pie Mitchie, look how well you've really grown!"
"Anne, give me that stuff and gawk at all these things!" Tiffany added as she took the baby bag from me and loosened up the weight on both hands. I mean I didn't mind my little guy, it was just that it was last minute and Michael was being unorganized. I let out a long sigh and closed my eyes, I let my head clear before I finally reopened my eyes and gasped at the sight.

The boutique was amazing!

"You ready for this future Mrs Phelps?" My best friend, Lia, cooed into my ear as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders and leaned her face against mine. "It's also time for you to freaking tell us what the heck the theme is for the wedding! You've kept a secret for waaaaaay too long, my dear friend," She added as she gave me a shake and released me from her hold.
"I know right! Jess and I were talking on the way here that you have kept it a secret way too long!" Tiffany sighed as I noticed that there was a woman walking out from behind the counter, a clipboard at hand and a welcoming smile. The woman had blond hair, blue eyes and was very pretty. Made me quite conscious.
"Welcome, you must be Roxanne Miller?" She greeted, her voice was enthusiastic as I nodded in response to what she said. "Nice to meet you, my name is Maria and I will be your consultant today. And these must be your bridesmaids? Oh and this is?" She turned her attention to Baby Phelps, who cooed in response and giggled at the attention he was suddenly getting.
"This is my little guy, Mitchell, he came here out of the blue because his Dad forgot that we weren't going to leave him with a sitter," I introduce Baby Phelps to Maria.
"Well, he must be Mommy's little helper today, huh?" She replied as she then looked back at her clipboard and asked me a few questions here and there. It was about how long the appointment was, the description of what my dress would be and when it'll be shipped to Maui.

"Bridesmaids, what is the colour of their dress?"

It was the great reveal. Tiffany, Jessica and Lia stopped dead on their tracks as I gave a grin. They looked rather desperate to know. So I smiled and finally said, "Rhubarb."
"Rhubarb?" The three women repeated at the same time, and it was funny to see what they looked like when I revealed it. Lia even mouthed a question if it was honestly real.
I let out a giggle. "Yeah, honestly, have you not seen the colour?" I asked them with a bit of laughter oozing out in between each word. Maria pulled out a colour card and showed them the tone. I beckoned towards the square shaped colour card and added, "There you go. I even have the perfect dress!"
They really didn't know how organized I was.
"You are seriously the same nut case as before," Tiffany pointed out, even covering Baby Phelps's ears as she said that. The other women there all laughed. "But you know we love you, dear."
Maria called another staff member, clicking her fingers as a form of communication, and out came three dresses, the same sizes at what the measurements my Bridesmaids to tell me. All three of them let out an ooh and an ahh. They were beautiful dresses, and honestly, they were what they all wanted. I knew that because we did a massive brainstorm and that was what they all wanted, though they didn't even hear of what I was going to wear.
"All very pretty," Jessica cooed as they all rushed towards the dresses. I watched them pull out the ones that had their names on it. The dress was really well made, it only needed a bit of tweaking here and there, but the way they showed it off through pictures really came through. Maria wasn't the woman who met with Lindsay about all this, but she was really as amazing as the woman on the other end of the phone that day we talked about the dresses. It wasn't really long before Baby Phelps was back in my arms and we played for a bit while waiting for the women to walk out of the dressing room in their chiffon rhubarb bridesmaid dresses, the gold sandals and accessories.
It was a rhubarb and gold wedding. That was my theme, and it was because of Michael I decided that gold tone. And it was him who said that our wedding would be the best achievement in his life, worth more than the gold medals he won in his whole career. I got teary remembering all of it.

Oh, I took a photo of Tiffany in the Amsale rhubarb dress. Here's what it looked like (minus the accessories): Tiffany_bridesmaiddress.jpeg

We spent quite a long time in there, but my dress is still kept a secret, not even they saw me try it on.



September 6th, 2011

2:30pm - Charm City Cakes

In the afternoon, Michael and I went to taste some cakes. We were exhausted from the day before because after our visit to try on our clothes for the wedding, we had to go practice our first dance. It'll be a surprise so I can't even tell you what the song would be and the moves. My Olympic husband-to-be is a great swimmer, but damn, he has two left feet sometimes - occasionally stepping on my foot, but then again, he's damn strong, he lifted me up with ease whenever I fell flat on the floor whenever he stepped on me.

We arrived just on time, actually, ten minutes earlier. Our nearly six month old son in Michael's grasp as we waited for our consultant to come out and greet us. We waited quite a bit before a man with a blue shirt came out, his black hair groomed and combed to the side and his lips even looked like it had some light pink lip stick on. Michael whispered to me and asked if the man 'played for the other team' by appearance, I had to nudge him to stop being so judgemental... Even though his judgement was right...
The man introduced himself as Vincent, he was a whole different level, because whenever he spoke, we couldn't get a word in, and when he talked, his eyes were more on Michael than they were towards me - as if I wasn't there throughout the whole time he was talking. I really wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but my husband-to-be told me to be polite.
"The cake you chose is beautiful," Vincent purred as he leaned towards the Olympian beside me, they were skimming through some catalogues with the options of the flavours they had to offer, and he constantly gave me the stink eye whenever he could. "We need you to choose at least five to six flavours to taste, but for you Mr Phelps, I would let you choose seven," He cooed trying to seduce the oblivious Olympian, who had been holding Baby Phelps in his grasp and looking at the flavours without even consulting with me.
So Michael went on to pick Chocolate Mint, Almond Amaretto Cream, Dulche de Leche, Lemon, Tiramisu, Marble, and Chocolate Espresso.

I'll admit that he chose two or three that I liked. But I won't comment, I'm going to give him the opportunity to decide since he and Vincent are totally snobbing me.

"Baby, here," Michael called me, he made Baby Phelps tug at my sleeve to get my attention while I had my eyes set on one flavour. I really wanted to try them first, but my husband-to-be took the Chocolate Espresso first and had a slice of it on top of the fork. He already took a bite, but he was trying to feed me with the flavour. "Anne, don't you want this one?" He asked, because I was looking away for most of the time. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and took a bite before he could do anything. I let the flavour sink into my taste buds, but then shook my head. I saw Vincent's face flare up, he probably saw that I wasn't going to let him ignore me.
"Chocolate Espresso is an all-time favourite," He stuttered.
Michael saw that I wasn't going to play well. He quickly changed the topic by grabbing the slice of Almond Amaretto Cream and shoved it into my mouth before I could say anything else to Vincent. "Try this one," He choked, because he was still chewing on the Chocolate Espresso flavour from before. The whole time, my husband-to-be just constantly putting the cake into my mouth so that I couldn't make a sound out of me. It eventually reached to the end, I finally opened my lips and said, "Well, I can't decide, but there-"
"-Mr Phelps, what would be the flavour that you want," Vincent interrupted me. I just wanted to really give him a slap. Okay... I was only being moody because I was on that monthly girl problem, and it was a nuisance, plus I was stressed out with all these things...

UGH…

Dulche de Leche Cake with red and gold ribbongs, which was chosen (without my opinion) by Michael Phelps. The guests better be happy with this.

Okay, I'm guilty, he chose the one I actually liked. But don't tell him that please.